10-acre ‘illegal’ allotment case: Bushra Bibi’s friend Farah given clean chit

LAHORE: The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has given a clean chit to Farhat Shahzadi alias Farah Gogi, a close friend of former premier Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, in a case of alleged illegal allotment of two industrial plots, measuring 10 acres, to a company owned by her, The News has learnt.

According to sources, Farah Gogi was declared innocent by the ACE in alleged illegal allotment of plots to M/s AI-Muez Dairy & Foods (Pvt) Limited, with the connivance of officer/officials of Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC). An inquiry had been sent to the ACE headquarters, where she and her mother were declared innocent under the supervision of former Director General ACE Rai Manzoor Nasir. 

Sources in the ACE said Rai Manzoor was given the task of looking into the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders’ cases. Another important person in this regard is former adviser to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Musadiq Abbasi, a retired brigadier, who is currently serving as an adviser to the Punjab chief minister on ACE.

A well-placed source told the reporter that Farah Gogi had been given favour, as she was not eligible to get a plot and the illegal plot allotment case had been proven against her. When the government would change, an inquiry would be re-initiated as ample proofs were found against her.

The reporter contacted ACE DG Captain (retd) Asadullah and Musadiq Abbas, but no reply was received. The public relations officer (PRO) to the DG was also contacted, but he was also not available.

Farhat Shahzadi and her mother Bushra Khan had set up a company and got it registered with the Security & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) under the name of AI-Muez Dairy & Foods (Private) Limited on Nov 26, 2020. The company submitted its first manual application through its director Farhat Shahzadi to the FIEDMC acting chief executive officer (CEO) on Nov 30, 2020 for allotment of a plot measuring 10.5 acres in M3 Faisalabad Industrial Zone.

According to the ACE probe, after violation of rules, she was given undue favour and two plots were allotted to her in haste without fulfilling the requirements as mentioned in the Act and rules & regulations. She was given the letter of allotment of both plots on Dec 6, 2021. As the case surfaced, the ACE had started investigation against her and an FIR was lodged against her. During the investigation, it was proved that Farah Gogi had been given plots for Rs83 million on subsidised rate while their market value was about Rs600m.